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She was born in 2525 to Catherine Elizabeth Halsey and Jacob Keyes. While living with her mother up until 2531, she was eventually sent to live with her father, changing her last name to Keyes soon after.[5] She would live on Luna, where her father taught at the Academy at Mare Nubium, or Luna Officer Candidate School.[2] Miranda was accepted to the Academy's pre-enlistment training at age 16, being the second-youngest to ever have attended the school. After graduating with honors, she immediately requested assignment to active duty.[6]

She was assigned to the UNSC Hilbert, an older, unarmed science vessel. Although without any offensive capabilities, the UNSC Hilbert was used by Keyes to play a critical role in battle. In the following years, Keyes spent most of her time in the front lines, playing a crucial advisory role in the coordination of several major offensive strikes against Covenant targets. This proved invaluable to her as she quickly rose through the ranks of the UNSC. Throughout her career, she was forced to confront accusations of nepotism from those who ascribed her rapid rise in rank to the position and influence of her father, Jacob Keyes.[6]

In April 2550, Miranda was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander in a promotion ceremony at downtown Quezon on Reach. Fleet AdmiralTerrence Hood also personally awarded her the Silver Star, and it was announced that she would assume command of the UNSC FrigateIn Amber Clad. Immediately following the ceremony, Keyes was deployed back to active duty, having been able to postpone a mandatory leave required for those receiving high-ranking promotions.[6]

Miranda Keyes at the controls of UNSC In Amber Clad during the Battle of Earth.

At the start of the Battle of Earth, Miranda's vessel was docked at Cairo Station, so that she could receive her father's honors. During the awards ceremony, the station was attacked and boarded. Miranda fought her way to her ship with the help of Sergeant MajorAvery Johnson, several Marines and John-117, the latter of whom, also repelled Covenant boarders along the way. As the Covenant armada began the invasion of Earth, she took In Amber Clad down to New Mombasa, where she dispatched multiple Pelican dropships with Marines to join the massive battle with the Covenant in progress there.

During the battle, In Amber Clad was one of the only vessels close enough to follow the High Prophet of Regret when his Assault Carrier entered Slipspace inside the city of New Mombasa. The resulting shockwave of the in-atmosphere Slipspace jump destroyed a large portion of the city and scattered a wave of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers that were in the process of a combat drop.

The In Amber Clad "piggy-backed" the Prophet of Regret's Assault Carrier through Slipspace and ended up at Installation 05. There, she sent a platoon of ODSTs to assist John-117 in his pursuit of the Prophet of Regret in order to capture or kill him. Once she learned of the Prophet of Regret's plan to activate Delta Halo, she ordered John-117 to assassinate him.

Meanwhile, Keyes and Johnson went to the Library of Halo, accompanied by most of the standard Marines of the ship. They attempted to retrieve the Index, and, although Keyes was successful, most of the Marines were killed or infected by the Flood. Once Keyes and Johnson had the Index, they were ambushed by Thel 'Vadamee. Johnson was knocked out, but Keyes was able to take down Arbiter's shields with dual SMGs before also being knocked unconscious. Seconds later, Keyes and Johnson were taken from the Arbiter by Tartarus and his band of Brutes. The Brutes then took Keyes and Johnson to High Charity, where they met the High Prophets of Truth and Mercy. They were then taken aboard separate Phantom dropships and were transported to Delta Halo's surface.

Keyes was taken to the Control Room of Installation 05 because she had been designated as a Reclaimer by 343 Guilty Spark. Tartarus then used her to activate the Installation. Shortly afterward, Thel 'Vadamee, Johnson and a group of Elites arrived and were able to kill Tartarus. Keyes then retrieved the Index and stopped Delta Halo from firing. Immediately after, Keyes asked 343 Guilty Spark about the status of the Halos. 343 Guilty Spark informed her that the Halo rings had not been deactivated, but rather put in a state of 'standby', and that all of the Halo rings were ready to be fired simultaneously from the Ark.[7]

While most of the Swords of Sanghelios' Fleet of Retribution remained to maintain the quarantine of High Charity, Commander Keyes, Johnson and the Arbiter returned to Earth on one of the fleet's vessels and arrived before the Forerunner Dreadnought with John-117 on board. On Earth, she commanded the defense of Earth from the UNSC base Crow's Nest.[8]

Shortly after Master Chief was recovered from the African jungles, the base came under heavy Covenant attack. As the base was overrun with Loyalist forces, Keyes and the command staff evacuated the wounded Marines and escaped on the last Pelican. The large explosive device that Keyes ordered left behind was detonated by John-117, destroying a large portion of the attacking Covenant. Miranda then took an active role as the commanding officer of the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn, Lord Hood's personal flagship. After the Prophet of Truth succeeded in opening the Portal outside Voi, Keyes was permitted by a reluctant Lord Hood to follow the Covenant Loyalist forces through the portal.

Miranda Keyes moments before her eventual death at the hands of the Prophet of Truth.

Miranda Keyes, commanding Forward Unto Dawn, then traveled with ShipmasterRtas 'Vadum and a Separatist fleet to Installation 00. During the events of the Battle of Installation 00, she landed troops and large quantities of weaponry and armor on the Ark, largely to supplement John-117's offensive in search of the Silent Cartographer. When John-117 located Truth at The Ark's control room, she dispatched several Pelican Dropships to deactivate the shield protecting the control room. When Sergeant Johnson was captured by Truth's forces in the course of this battle, Keyes asked John how close he was to stopping Truth.

Realizing that John and Thel 'Vadam would never get there in time to stop Truth, Keyes decided to stall Truth herself. She crashed her Pelican at Truth's position, intending to rescue Johnson. She exited her Pelican with an M90A Shotgun and an M6G Pistol. She was able to kill two Brutes, and wounded (some fatally) several others but ultimately found herself outnumbered. Seeing that she would be unable to kill all of Truth's guards, she aimed her pistol at Johnson, realizing another way to stop Truth's plans: to kill both herself and Johnson, and rob Truth of the human touch needed to fire the Halos. Johnson encouraged this, telling her to first kill him, then herself. Keyes, reluctant to harm Johnson, hesitated, giving the Prophet of Truth the opportunity to shoot her in the back with seven spikes using a Spiker, killing her. Her death greatly disheartened and demoralized Johnson, who was subsequently used to activate the Ark. Truth commented on Keyes' unwillingness to kill Johnson, claiming that humans were weak, which was why the Forerunners had left them behind. After John-117 and the Arbiter stopped Truth, Keyes' body was rescued from Flood infection by Johnson, who carried her into the Pelican which he used to escape the Ark's control room. It is likely that her body was taken back to Earth, and buried there. Her face is later seen in a photograph on the Memorial to the fallen on a hillside overlooking the Portal to the Ark, near the photograph of Avery Johnson and the service number of Master Chief John-117.

In-game, Keyes appears as a non-playable character and is invulnerable to damage. When meleed, she won't bleed, she'll only bleed when shot at or when caught in a grenade explosion. If you do either of the aforementioned for a period of time in the Halo 2 level Cairo Station she will moan. If you shoot her for some time or melee her in Halo 3 she will scream hysterically.

Like her father, Miranda Keyes was known for being one of the bravest officers in the UNSC, however slightly inexperienced in comparison. This was demonstrated in various cases, such as her decision to follow Regret's flagship into Slipspace during the Battle of Mombasa, when she would have killed Thel' Vadam at the Battle of Installation 05 were it not for his combat prowess and good reflexes, or in the Battle of Installation 00 when she crashed her Pelican through the Citadel's wall in a last-ditch effort to rescue Johnson, moments before her death.

Due to her unexpected move to follow Regret's ship into Slipspace, she was described by CommanderRichard Lash as "The ballsiest officer in the Fleet". He, however, suggested that she may have been trying to live up to the reputation of her father or that she was simply "nuts".[10]

In Halo 3, she was portrayed by Justis Bolding, instead of Julie Benz, because Bungie wanted a person with an accent.[11] Despite this, Keyes' voice has no discernible accent in Halo 3.

In Halo 2, Miranda has a silver oak leaf, denoting the rank of Commander, but in Halo 3 she has a gold oak leaf, which represents the rank of Lieutenant Commander. The three full golden bars on her uniform's shoulder-boards and sleeve-ends also indicate that she was a commander, as two full bars and one thinner bar represent the rank of lieutenant commander. This probably means that she is still a full commander and that the gold oak leaf that appears on her uniform in Halo 3 is a design oversight.

The Halo Encyclopedia erroneously claims that Miranda was shot and killed by a Brute honor guardsman, though it is clear in the game that the Prophet of Truth shot her and strangely in page 182 of the Halo Encyclopedia, it clearly states that she was killed by the Prophet of Truth.

↑Dexter's No. 1 Gal — Julie Benz — Previews a Killer Finale Friday, December 15, 2006 TVGuide.com: Are you all done with your voice work for the Halo 3 video game?Julie Benz: You know what? I am actually not a part of Halo 3. I was informed a couple of weeks ago that they are actually changing the voice of Commander Miranda Keyes, and giving her an accent.